A report from the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition
It’s National Physical Fitness & Sports Month! The President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition is excited to keep the journey from #0to60 going by encouraging everyone to #MoveInMay.

There are countless ways to get moving and we are asking our partners to help us inspire all Americans to be active. We’ve created this #MoveInMay Playbook where you can find themes, tips and motivational messages that you can promote throughout the month. You can also get ideas to #MoveInMay and every day at 0to60fitness.org !

Importance of Physical Activity

Physical activity provides long-term health benefits for everyone! By being active, you will burn calories that you store from eating throughout the day and—it can be as easy as walking the dog or as rigorous as running a marathon. Providing opportunities for children to be active early on puts them on a path to better physical and mental health. It’s never too late to jumpstart a healthy lifestyle.

Physical Activity & Obesity

Physical activity, along with proper nutrition, is beneficial to people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities. And it is important that everyone gets active: over the last 20 years, there’s been a significant increase in obesity in the United States. About one-third of U.S. adults (33.8%) are obese and approximately 17% (or 12.5 million) of children and adolescents (aged 2-19 years) are obese.1

The health implications of obesity in America are startling:

If things remain as they are today, one-third of all children born in the year 2000 or later may suffer from diabetes at some point in their lives, while many others are likely to face chronic health problems such as heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, diabetes, and asthma.2

Studies indicate that overweight youth may never achieve a healthy weight, and up to 70% of obese teens may become obese adults.3

Even more worrisome, the cumulative effect could be that children born in the year 2000 or later may not outlive their parents.4

The impact of obesity doesn’t end there. Obesity has personal financial and national economic implications as well. Those who are obese have medical costs that are $1,429 more than those of normal weight on average (roughly 42% higher).5 And annual direct costs of childhood obesity are $14.3 billion.6

By incorporating physical activity into your daily life—30 minutes for adults and 60 minutes for children—as well as healthy eating, you will experience positive health benefits and be on the path for a better future.